AI education programme launched for Donegal schools
TCS Letterkenny launched a local initiative to build AI skills for teachers and students in Donegal ahead of the planned rollout across schools nationwide
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has launched an AI in Education initiative at its Letterkenny Global Delivery Centre to build AI skills and confidence among teachers and students across Donegal.
Led by the TCS Letterkenny AI Centre of Excellence, the programme was created to prepare schools as AI changes how students learn, how teachers work, and how workplaces operate.
The initiative equips schools to embrace these changes in a thoughtful, ethical and inclusive manner. The initiative builds practical AI literacy in classrooms and promotes the safe, responsible and purposeful adoption of AI within education.
The programme began through a pilot project with a special educational needs school, Little Angels in Letterkenny. TCS worked with school leaders and teachers to support lesson planning, resource creation, teacher-parent communications, and workload reduction for students with diverse learning needs.
TCS then hosted 30 school principals and teachers from across Donegal at its Letterkenny campus for an AI in Education information evening, sharing learnings from the pilot scheme, including practical tools for teaching and learning alongside data privacy and safeguarding guidelines.
Ailbhe Dunne, Principal at Little Angels School, said: “Working with TCS has been a really positive experience for our school community.
“The team took the time to understand our pupils and the needs of our staff, and the support we received with lesson planning, resource creation and communicating with parents has made a real difference to our workload. That gives our teachers more time to focus on the children. We are proud to have been part of the pilot, and we are delighted that other schools across Donegal and beyond will now benefit from it.”
Building on lessons learned through the Little Angels collaboration and the wider information evening, TCS is now developing and delivering a series of "Teach with AI" workshops.
These 90-minute group sessions provide teachers with practical training to build confidence in using AI responsibly, reduce administrative workload, create and adapt educational resources efficiently, support differentiated learning approaches, understand the opportunities and limitations of AI and apply AI in line with educational best practice.
TCS will also deliver “AI Explorer” workshops directly to students in classrooms across Donegal in the coming months. These sessions will introduce students to AI concepts, applications, and ethical considerations through curriculum-aligned activities.
TCS plans to build a programme model that supports schools across Ireland over time.
“AI is already changing the world around us, and education has an important part to play in helping young people understand and navigate that future,” Deepanand Saha Roy, Head of AI at TCS Global Delivery Centre Letterkenny, said.
“Our AI for Education initiative is about helping teachers and students explore AI in a practical, accessible and responsible way, building confidence rather than complexity. We are delighted to start here in Donegal, working with our local school community to shape the programme before bringing it to schools across Ireland.”